Beach weather has hit the Middle East. Spot the sleek-as-seals people sitting poolside or floating in the Dead Sea. Glistening skin, smooth as a baby’s bottom. What’s with this Arab allergy to body hair?
It stems from Islamic tradition, where hair removal is not just desirable, it’s mandated by the Sunan al-Fitra, a personal hygienic code. The Fitra says keep clear from eyebrows (plucking is haram!), and men - maintain your beards!, but it requires baldness for all your private bits.
Smooth groove!
The Sahih al-Bukhari is explicit that all Muslims must pluck away hair from the navel to the genitals and behind to the anus. Underarms get the same treatment. Most Islamic scholars hold that complete removal of body hair (from the neck down to the soles of the feet) is a requirement before engaging in jihad, a profound holy struggle. Not just Lesser Jihad (Holy War against non-Muslims), but also the Greater Jihad (internal spiritual struggle toward submission to Allah). Since the latter is a daily dilemma, it means a constant state of hairlessness. And there’s a hadith directive that says your good deeds are nullified if you go past 40 days without a shave.
But it’s more than religion at play. Ancient Egyptians were fond of a bald pate; shaving was associated with cleanliness. Alexander the Great insisted his soldiers shave before battle, reasoning that a beard could be grabbed to pull a soldier off his horse. (Cleopatra was his sister, seems these Macedonian heirs shared a hair aversion.)
As for the Middle East’s war on hair, Arabs - while prone to slavishly following the diktats of their religions or cultures - are also sensitive to the whims of the wily West. But in the case of what’s “normal” in the pubic hair landscape, the (waxing) table is turned! Pubic hair removal has Middle Eastern roots, documented as far back as Ancient Egypt. Only in the past 20 years is it increasingly the norm in the West, where the crusade against body hair is just skin deep compared to the religio-cultural complexities entrenched in the Middle East’s waxing warriors. The fairer sex who grow up on body hair-busting rituals have developed thick skins by the time they’re the ladies you see in the salons.
Shall we all shave like an Egyptian? Let’s look at the history of hairlessness in the Middle East where a bare body is de rigueur if you don’t want to stand out like a sore (hairy) thumb!
